How to Determine When to Disable Hardware Monitoring When Configuring a Storage Policy in BMC Helix Operations Management

  • kb1331
  • Jan. 16, 2025
  • 2 min read

This article explains how to verify whether hardware monitoring is supported for your storage systems when configuring a policy in BMC Helix Operations Management.

Best Practice How-To KM Storage Hardware SI HDF Adapter Connector

Related Topics

Introduction

When configuring a policy for the Storage Analyzer KM in BMC Helix Operations Management, you can choose to either enable or disable hardware monitoring. While this feature works for most storage systems, it is important to confirm that your platform supports hardware monitoring via a specific protocol before enabling it.

This article explains how to check whether hardware monitoring is supported for your storage systems and when to disable it.

Note: Hardware monitoring requires the Hardware Sentry KM to be installed.

Procedure

To check whether hardware monitoring is supported for your platform:

  1. Open the .si file corresponding to the platform to be monitored and stored under:

    • %PATROL_HOME%\lib\si on Windows
    • $PATROL_HOME/../lib/si on Linux

  2. Locate the hardwareConnectors: line:

    • If a hardware connector is specified (e.g.: MS_HW_EMCDiskArray.hdf):

             #
       # EMC Storage Information
       #
       # SI attributes (metadata)
       metadata :
           name: Dell EMC VMAX (WBEM)
           version: 31
           vendor: Dell EMC
           platforms: [ VMAX, PowerMax]
           category: Storage
           reliesOn: EMC SMI-S Agent (ECOM)
           defaultPort : 5989
           protocol: WBEM
           hardwareConnectors: [MS_HW_EMCDiskArray.hdf]

      • verify that the .hdf file exists in the directory for Hardware Connectors:

        • Windows: %PATROL_HOME%\lib\MS_HW_hdf
        • Linux: $PATROL_HOME/../lib/MS_HW_hdf

        If it is present, you can enable hardware monitoring in your policy:

        Storage Analyzer KM Policy - Enabling Hardware Monitoring

    • If no hardware connector is listed:

        metadata :
      name: Dell EMC Unity (REST)
      version: 31
      vendor: Dell EMC
      platforms: [ Dell EMC Unity All-Flash ]
      category: Storage
      reliesOn: Unisphere Management REST API
      defaultPort: 443
      protocol: REST
      #hardwareConnectors: [.hdf]

This means hardware monitoring is not supported for this protocol. In such cases, uncheck the Hardware Monitoring option during policy configuration.

If hardware monitoring is not available, it may still be possible using a different protocol or connector. For example, Dell EMC Unity can be monitored using the WBEM protocol and the MS_HW_EMCUnity.hdf connector.

Sentry Software continuously updates adapters and connectors. If the manufacturer begins providing hardware information via the protocol, updates will reflect these changes.

Refer to the below articles for examples of storage monitoring configuration:

Best Practice How-To KM Storage Hardware SI HDF Adapter Connector